Mako Red Eyes
by Mako Red Eyes
Summary: FIC DISCONTENUED!No more updates, SRY. Who is MAKO RED EYES? Well, me for one...well, sorta. The story of a girl who gets kidnapped by Hojo, thrown into SOLDIER, and essencially turned into the freak she didn't exactly ask to be. Lame OC fic
1. Part One

Who is MAKO RED EYES? Well, me for one...well, sorta. The story of a girl who gets kidnapped by Hojo, thrown into SOLDIER, and essencially turned into the freak she didn't exactly ask to be. The story of my rather lame OC. Shameless self insertion! NOT ROMANCE! (get it straight)...Rated R for extremely vulgar language.  
  
DISCLAIMER: (oo...usually forget these, lol) I don't own ShinRa (hehe, that'd be fun...) Or Sephiroth (funner...) Or anyone else, for that matter. Except Alexia, and her 'look'. Mine! Mine mine mine mine! Hands off! (lol) Hojo's for sail as a beat-bag, though, lol Nah, its' all SQUARE's. cries  
  
Chapter 1  
  
-Wasn't Planning On Company-   
  
"No! Let go, you goddamned greasy-haired freak!" Alexia wasn't too keen on being kidnapped. Especially by some greasy old man with an unnerving smile and evilly glinting glasses that somehow always reflected light, hiding his eyes. She twisted, yanking her arm skillfully out of his grip. Years of martial arts training made Alexia quick to avoid the smallish man. She wasn't too worried about having to fight him. He was frail looking: Old, skinny and short, and had the weakest grip of anyone she'd ever encountered. She stepped back out of his reach. She didn't know who the old bug was or how he'd gotten into her house, but he held a disturbing resemblance to a character from one of her video games…. Laughing dryly, he made another lunge at her. Alexia frowned and simply punched him squarely in the face. He staggered back, holding his now bleeding nose. "Go away and I won't call the Cops." Alexia suggested angrily. The man scowled.   
  
"Fucking brat…" He muttered, pulling out what sort of looked like a pager from his coat pocket. Alexia scowled as well, standing back cautiously.   
  
"Creep." Eighteen, brash and tomboyish, though usually far better natured than this, she wasn't afraid of much. The would be kidnapper pushed a button and leered through his glinting glasses at her. There was a loud bang as several men in blue uniforms, well armored and burly came bursting in, charging right at Alexia. Dark brown eyes widened in alarm. "Damnit!" She dodged one man, tripped a second before a third grabbed her firmly from behind in a crushing bear-hug. Alexia grinned, relaxing like she'd given up. Some of the tension went out of her attacker's grip, and she swung her elbow back, right into his regrettably unprotected groin. He let go right quick, doubling foreword, and she grabbed his arm, pulling up hard up and over her shoulder into a vicious throw. He let out a yelp, crashing through a hard oak chair that happened to be sitting out from the matching kitchen table. Alexia grimaced. "Damn… Mom's gunna kill me for that. She muttered. By now, her secret out, Alexia was hard pressed to defend herself against the remaining four men. Unable to fight now that the obviously-warriors knew she could fight back, she spent her energy on dodging them, racing through the house, hoping over the large table, knocking over furniture to slow them down. They were fast and very strong, however, and caught up with her quickly as she ran outside in an attempt to escape. Alexia did have the satisfaction of putting an elbow full force into one of the thug's temples before the others (the first that she'd taken out was back on his feet and alarmingly fine) pulled large, vicious-looking guns on her. Defeated, Alexia gave in. The little man that she'd originally encountered came sauntering out of her own house to where she was being restrained in a muddy lawn. Alexia panted, sweat-drenched and knuckles bleeding from all the punches to very hard skulls she'd dealt.  
  
"Feisty, aren't we?" The man leered. "Just what I need." Alexia spat.  
  
"Need for what?!" She was thinking hard on an escape, since her first two tries hadn't worked so well. What now, Sensei?She thought mournfully. She'd been taught all forms of self defense: grappling, throws, kicks and punches, even some knife defenses. She'd also been told that once someone pulled a gun, you're fucked. Just not exactly in those words….  
  
"All for science, my pugnacious little specimen." Alexia glared. At just an inch over a runt-ish five feet tall, she didn't like being called 'little'. She didn't like the way he'd called her 'his specimen' either.   
  
"Leave me alone and go 'science' somewhere else." She spat, kicking against her captor. The man frowned darkly.  
  
"I've had enough lip." He waved a hand and Alexia received an earth shattering blow to the back of her head. Her world promptly went black.  
  
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Chapter 2  
  
-Rude Awakenings (I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto.)-  
  
Alexia woke blearily to the sound of machines - medical monitors from the sound of it. Fuck.She hated hospitals. She'd had her share and then some of heavy surgery, and didn't appreciate any sort of medical attention. She opened one eye, looking around. Strange machines and rows of microscopes and tubes, screen monitors, computers and a very eerie green glow from another corner filled her vision. Not a hospital…Her eyes narrowed. …it's a lab…Another look around told her she probably didn't want to be here. Sitting up… she paused, struggling. She wanted to sit up, but she couldn't. A moments' examination told her it was because she'd been tied down by heavy leather straps, securing her to a large stainless steel table. She struggled for a moment, then gave up.  
  
"Done fighting yet?" Alexia jumped, snapping her head around to glare at that same man. He was now dressed in a white lab coat, long greasy black hair tied back neatly. He smiled wolfishly. "I see you're awake." He said cheerfully.  
  
"No shit, Sherlock." Alexia noticed with a nasty shock that there was already an IV drip gently pushing liquid into her arm. She wished she could move to rip it out. It scared her that she didn't know what it was. Even through all the IV's she'd gotten from her surgeries, the nurses and doctors had always told her exactly what they were giving her, even if she didn't understand what it was, or care. The scientist laughed.  
  
"Oh, don't worry. They're just pain killers. I'm not poisoning you… yet. You'll be thankful for them in a while…" He chuckled again. This did not reassure Alexia in any way. She stared over at him sourly.  
  
"Thanks." She said flatly. "Who /are/ you, anyway?" She asked. He laughed. Alexia thought he was laughing too much.  
  
"Of course! Indeed, where are my manners--"  
  
"--I think you might have left them at my house." Alexia interrupted, glaring.  
  
"Impudent little shit…" he muttered, glaring back. "You may call me Professor Hojo." A spark of confusion and alarm went through Alexia. You're not real!Her mind insisted. You're just some sleazy video game extra!It briefly crossed her mind that this was a joke, but she somehow didn't think so.  
  
"…Can I call you Professor FuckFace instead?" He ignored her.  
  
"You have a strong will" He went on. "You should be proud. You're exactly what I needed." Alexia listened, trying to hide her sudden fear. He'd lifted a large syringe filled with a glowing green liquid. "Do you know what this is?" He asked. "It's called Mako--"  
  
"I know what the fuck it is, Hojo!" She snapped. Oh yes, she knew, now. Hojo frowned.  
  
"You shouldn't… I traveled to an entirely different dimension to get you… hm…" Alexia squirmed. Hojo shrugged carelessly. "Oh well! I suppose my reputation would precede me so far!" He laughed again, moving up to Alexia "Now then. I suppose you know what will happen to one exposed to mako?"  
  
"Death, severe illness and or comostasis, or increased strength… normally. I don't think mako was meant for the living, Hojo." She said, voice low. Hojo laughed.  
  
"Very true. Small doses is all!" He raised the syringe. "You might want to brace yourself. As you likely know, it tends to sting a bit." Alexia swallowed a scream as he plunged the needle right into her heart. It took all the will she had. Even with her own high pain threshold enforced with the painkillers, Alexia nearly blacked out. She watched distantly as he plunged the glowing liquid right into her.  
  
"Stings a bit, my ass, you sick fuck." She said through gritted teeth. Hojo smiled.  
  
"If you live, you'll be a prodigy to SOLDIER. You should be proud…You're tough, you know. Of all the men I've given mako treatments, there has only been one who refused to cry out in the same fashion as you…Obstinate boy…He's rebelling against me, the fool, I can feel it! My own son!" Alexia, despite her deep agony, smiled darkly.  
  
"Maybe if you were a father instead of a fucking scientist he would have been more apt to following your will…" She grit out. She could barely see now, every fiber of her being on fire. She had been talking just to keep her focus on something else, but the mako demanded every ounce of attention.  
  
Finally, Hojo withdrew the needle, blood pooling lightly around the tip and the puncture wound. Alexia felt her head spin at the sight of her own blood, swirling red against the acid green of the mako. Hojo chuckled humorlessly.  
  
"I have been a wonderful father. I have given my boy everything he wanted: Power, strength, luxury, the world's finest education!" He paused. "And what does he do, the ungrateful prat! Throws it all back in my face, ignores my words of valuable wisdom!" Hojo smiled darkly. "You're to be his replacement." He added, glasses glinting. Alexia felt a cold stab go through her even through the chilling burn of the mako traveling through her blood. She had a pretty good idea of who Hojo might be referring to, and she didn't want to be anyone's replacement, let alone /his/. She had to be careful. Play along… SMILE, dipshit!She gave Hojo her patented evil smile. Much to her amazement, he bought it. It was her practiced smile to scare her friends. Apparently, it came in handy… "Haha! You like that, eh? No one can resist power. You know the power of ShinRa and SOLDIER! Brilliant Child!" Alexia nearly gagged. Class A mother fucker…She grinned eagerly, then let out a startled cry as a wave of nausea hit her. Hojo chuckled. It was the last sound she heard before she passed out abruptly.  
  
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Chapter 3  
  
-Chaos Cells-  
  
Alexia awoke with a start, and immediately screamed, a burst of greenish white bubbles bursting out of her mouth, but no sound following. She was suspended in a large tube of glowing mako.. She clamped her mouth shut, fearing she would drown, but then relaxed. She wouldn't drown, but her lungs burned as the fluid spilled into them. Beyond the green haze, she could see Hojo's lab, dark and empty. There was some relief in that. She curled her knees up to her chest, hugging them, floating. She noticed dully that she was completely nude, but dried not to care. It was all part of Hojo's breaking tactics. She knew it could be worse if she didn't play along, though it was still bad. She clamped her burning eyes shut against the green, dreaming of home. She winced. That hurt more than the mako. Resigned, Alexia tried to empty her mind, and simply rest, eventually sleeping through her adverse situation.  
  
A week passed into eternity, Alexia never being released, the mako sustaining her. Hojo came in and bustled about, mostly ignoring her, every morning.   
  
Alexia's eighth day in captivity brought change as Hojo approached her tank, pushing a few buttons on a nearby control panel. The mako quickly drained away, leaving her collapsed in a heap on the damp floor. She looked up blearily at him, mind hazed from a week of complete inactivity.   
  
"Get up." He said. She wobbled to her feet weakly, body even number than her mind. She had lost another twenty pounds from her already slight frame and he simply lost patience, yanking her up easily with one hand.   
  
Alexia was half dragged back to the cold table. She shivered, burning, vaguely aware of how sick she was. She watched hazily as she was strapped firmly to the table once again. Hojo raised a syringe, but this one wasn't filled with mako, but with what looked like blood. He brought it down, right into a pulsing vein in her neck.  
  
She screamed.  
  
Whatever Hojo had given her felt more unnatural inside of her than the mako. It didn't burn like the mako, in fact, only the injection itself hurt, but it made her skin crawl and her stomach churn. She turned her head, vomiting abruptly onto the floor. Hojo scowled.  
  
"Messy wench." Alexia cried softly, wanting to crawl out of herself, wanting to tear her own flesh off, bleed whatever it was back out. …Which is probably why she was strapped down. Relaxing against the awful feeling, she looked up to see another syringe, filled with more glowing mako. "That last injection was from another being to help keep you alive and make you physically stronger." Hojo explained gleefully. Please, don't be Jenova…don't be Jenova… please…She had the clarity of mind to know that was one thing she DIDN'T want inside of her.  
  
"What is it?" She croaked. Anything but Jenova….Hojo was smiling like that was just what he'd wanted to hear.  
  
"They are cells, drawn directly from a demon I'm using in another experiment as well." He began. Alexia felt a sharp shock go through her. She swallowed. "It's called Chaos…Very powerful, vicious creature. I doubt there will be much that will be able to take you out with his strength behind you. Of course, you're not /invincible/ so don't get any ideas. Alexia gagged, then grinned darkly.  
  
"Only ideas of leading SOLDIER." She said oily, smirking. Inside her head, the demon's name was still rolling in her head like a ball of tar. At least I don't have the actual demon, like….She trailed off as he stuck the new syringe right back into her heart. She made a choked sound, gasping at the sudden pain.   
  
"Stay awake, damnit." Hojo snapped as her eyes started to roll. "You're tougher than that!" Alexia gasped, peeling her eyes open. "This is important. You're special now… All men going into SOLDIER have mako treatments, some heavier than others…" he paused, grinning. "…but most are relatively light. You will become our newest war machine. With the Chaos Cells in you, you have a regeneration rate of two hundred percent, and a higher tolerance to foreign substances, such as the mako. Eventually, I plan to replace your bloodstream completely with the mako." He finished with one of the syringes, and pulled out another. Alexia choked on some rising bile, and spat it out quickly before he brought down the next injection. "For today, however, I will be stopping at about… fifty two percent. True, it will leave you with some adverse side effects for a while, but with that aside… You will be thirty-nine percent higher saturation than even our precious General." He watched for a flicker of recognition in her face, but she kept it passive. She would not throw him this bone. She winced dully at the last injection, her body already so lit up that she barely felt it.   
  
He left her there for a while, until there was a knock at the door across the lab. Hojo grunted, and unbuckled the straps holding Alexia down. He tossed her a rough blanket and pushed her roughly off the table, ushering her into the corner by the now empty tube she'd been in for a week. She collapsed, wrapped in the blanket, shivering, against the cold glass, watching vaguely as Hojo went to the door, opening it.  
  
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Chapter 4  
  
-Hello, Stranger.-  
  
Alexia shivered, barely conscious enough to pull the blanket draped around her shoulders tighter. Hojo went to the door, letting someone in. She watched the scientist vacantly. Hojo paused, turned and stared at her, and she stared right back, unresponsive. Hojo shrugged and stepped back, making way for a tall, irritated looking man with long flowing silver hair and an ominous looking trench coat . Alexia averted her eyes. She'd felt a shock go through her at the sight of Sephiroth -everyone did- and it had pulled Alexia out of her stupor. She was careful to hold her vacant stare, but watched carefully as Hojo led Sephiroth over to the table she'd just been on. Sephiroth sat down, and glanced over at her.  
  
"Oh! Don't mind that!" Hojo said offhandedly, noticing his gaze. Sephiroth yanked his stare away and Alexia went back to breathing.  
  
"You're giving her mako treatments?" Sephiroth asked flatly as he shrugged off his coat. Hojo was preparing another needle.  
  
"New experement." Hojo said, bustling about. Sephiroth grunted.  
  
"Where'd you kidnap this one from?"  
  
"Who said I kidnapped her?!" Hojo exclaimed. Alexia had a hard time not snorting. Sephiroth did though. He turned to face her.  
  
"Did you volunteer for this?" Alexia didn't blink.  
  
"Don't bother. She's too far gone." Hojo muttered. Hojo looked back at her. He was onto her. She carefully caught his eyes. He remained blank-faced.  
  
"You nearly killed her."  
  
"She's fine." Hojo paused, and Sephiroth's small gasp could be heard as he received the painful mako injection. "You seem interested." He smirked. Sephiroth grunted.  
  
"You shouldn't torture women, Hojo."  
  
"Like I said, she volunteered." He insisted. "Though as nails, though, this one." He added, smirk growing. Sephiroth snorted humorlessly.  
  
"I see that. How much have you given her?"  
  
"More than you." Hojo replied, sneering. Sephiroth's face darkened, mako eyes flashing.  
  
"You're a bastard, Hojo."  
  
"You can't prove that."  
  
"Fuck you." Hojo laughed.  
  
"Such an obstinate prat! Fine. If you're so concerned about the waif, you take care of her!" Alexia blinked. Oh hell, /this/ could get interesting…Though she was the subject of conversation, both men seemed oblivious to her. All the better, she was having trouble hiding her façade of incoherency just now. Sephiroth glanced over at her, and she stilled her face. He was looking paler already from the injection.  
  
"And if I refuse?"  
  
"There's more I can do than just mako treatments, my boy."  
  
"You don't own me, Hojo." Sephiroth growled.  
  
"I MADE YOU, DAMNIT!" Hojo spat. With a snarl, Sephiroth stood, and started towards Alexia. "Bring her back in a week. I'm not done with her yet." Hojo ordered. Alexia barely heard him, she was slipping back into the mako haze, desperately wanting to know what was going to happen to her now, but unable to hang on. She managed a grateful glance up at the tall man before blacking out as he dragged her off the ground.  
  
"She needs medication." Sephiroth said flatly, looking down at the unconscious figure in his arms with a mix of sympathy and detest. He didn't need extra baggage on his already hellish life.  
  
"She's fine, damnit." Hojo snarled. "Get her the fuck out of here."  
  
"Where are her clothes." Sephiroth asked icily. Great he was stuck with a sick, naked science experiment that his fuckup of a father had managed to get his hands on.  
  
"Dunno."  
  
"Damn you to hell, Hojo."  
  
"See you there." Hojo chimed cheerfully as Sephiroth stormed out, trying to manage a very limp, pale body over one shoulder while still keeping it discreetly covered in the lone blanket.  
  
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Chapter 5  
  
-Bitter Moments-  
  
Sephiroth groaned as he slipped into his private apartment, carefully setting the girl down on a couch and crawling into his own bedroom, and sprawling out on the bed, shaking. He swore Hojo had given him a double shot of mako just to make sure he'd be sick from it. Often, regular mako treatments didn't bother him very much. Now he felt like vomiting, and could barely see. Forgetting the half-dead person in his living room, he passed out.  
  
Alexia woke blearily, feeling sicker than ever, and now disoriented as well. She was no longer in Hojo's lab, but in a lushly furnished room, wrapped firmly in her not-exactly comfortable blanket, shivering on a cold leather couch. Leather. Huh. Better than steel…She looked around best she could, which wasn't much. So much as breathing hurt, and she still had that sickening feeling of something foreign and greasy going through her body. She lay still, blinking up at the white ceiling, shadowed in darkness at the moment, wondering where in hell she was. Literally. She knew she was somewhere in hell, also known as ShinRa property, but she didn't know where she was exactly. She could guess, though, and she wasn't sure whether she liked the notion or not. She tried to sit up, and collapsed, head spinning. She felt sick, but fought back the lurch in her gut, not wanting to puke all over the apparently expensive couch, or the carpet below. Hojo's lab was one thing, somebody's home or living space was another. Unless this is Hojo's apartment, in which case, I'll make sure I pee on the furniture and puke every chance I get.She thought bitterly. Footsteps made her lurch her head sideways to look up, making her head spin again. She let out a breathy gasp, clutching at the cushions as if she'd fall. Her whole world was spinning.  
  
"Take it easy. I'm not some fucked up scientist here to torture you." Came a cold, irritated voice. Alexia didn't relax much. She turned her head more slowly to look up at the blurry figure standing over her. She blinked once, twice, but still couldn't focus her eyes. The figure crouched over her, face only feet away from hers, but still she couldn't make out anything but a blur of shadow and light. A large hand came down over her forehead suddenly, startling her. "…Shit…" It was a mildly distressed, mostly irritated hiss that made Alexia wonder if she hadn't leapt out of the pan and into the fire. "the fuck did he do to you?" Alexia opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out at all. "Don't bother trying to talk. Stay still." With that, he was gone. Alexia sunk deeper into the couch, clamping her eyes shut, fighting back tears. Lovely. Just motherfucking lovely…She wanted to go home. Her eyes were still clamped shut when she was lifted into a sitting position. "Here." A pill was shoved into her mouth, followed by a glass of water being pressed to her lips. She took both the pill and water without question. He'd already insulted Hojo, so he had to be more trustworthy than the scientist, which was an improvement. She drank the water, though it took every bit of assistance offered. "Stupid of you not to even open your eyes to look and see what I gave you. I could have just poisoned you.   
  
"Better than the mako." Alexia murmured hoarsely. A wry snort was her answer.  
  
"I'm guessing you didn't volunteer."   
  
"Noo. I /wanted/ to be taken from my home by force, stripped of all dignity and poisoned day in and out for two weeks straight only to be tossed out by one sick fuck into the quote, 'care' of probably one of the coldest people I've ever met!" Alexia cried, bursting into tears. She didn't care who she insulted now. She inwardly wished he /had/ poisoned her, though from the way her pain was ebbing away slightly, she guessed that it had merely been pain killers.   
  
Sephiroth leaned back, blinking in shock as the girl burst into tears suddenly. Sephiroth knew he could be an asshole, cold and hardened, and with good reason, but no one had ever said it to his face so bluntly. It was almost refreshing. Below him, Alexia sniffed.  
  
"Sorry…" She apologized. "That wasn't fair. You're an improvement to Hojo at any rate. I'm sorry he dumped me on you." Sephiroth blinked again. Now he was really stymied.   
  
"What's your name?" He asked, trying to ease some of the chill out of his voice. It didn't work very well.  
  
"…Alexia. I'm not from your world, you know….Where I came from, you, Hojo, ShinRa…all just fictional things from a cute little story… Hojo crossed into my world and proved to me that you're as real as I thought you weren't."  
  
"Then you know who I am?" Sephiroth asked, intrigued.   
  
"I can hardly see, but I could very well guess, yes." Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Peculiar. Your eyesight will return in a bit. Rest and we'll talk more, perhaps." He turned to go. Alexia tried to sit up, only to collapse with a grunt.  
  
"You're Sephiroth, right?" She asked after him. Sephiroth paused without turning around.  
  
"Yes." He left.  
  
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Chapter 6  
  
-Transformation-  
  
Alexia had slept off another several hours when Sephiroth returned with more medicine and water, and clothes as well for her. She took all gratefully, blinking back her suspicion as she slipped into an overlarge pair of boxer shorts and a shirt that hung down to her knees. Neither said a thing about the offered clothing.  
  
Alexia could see better now, though her vision was still slightly blurry around the edge, and she managed to sit up on her own, curled in a corner of the couch with a glass of water cradled in both hands, barely able to lift it without dropping it. She'd never felt so weak in her life, and it embarrassed her. For the most part, Sephiroth remained quiet, barely even acknowledging her. Alexia didn't mind. She guessed it was simply in his nature.   
  
She'd been sitting through one of their on stretching silences when her vision blurred and her world spun. She dropped the glass of water, which was caught instants later by Sephiroth's lightning-quick reflexes, without spilling. He was about to berate her for her carelessness when she collapsed clean off the couch with a thud, crying out and writing on the floor in seizure. Sephiroth, alarmed by the unexpected spasm, had only picked her up and replaced her on the couch when she screamed, ear splittingly high and agony-laced. Startled, Sephiroth leapt back.   
  
Screaming again, wracked with seizure, Alexia arched, grinding her knees and elbows into the leather couch, shuddering. Blood began to seep through Sephiroth's shirt around her shoulders, and he yanked the tail back, revealing two black nubs slowly tearing through pale flesh just below her shoulder blades. They pushed further out in a gush of blood, and Alexia screamed even more, then broke off abruptly, now in too much pain to scream.  
  
Sephiroth watched in awe and helplessness as the wounds stretched, something pushing out from under the skin. It took a good ten or fifteen minutes, but finally, two large leathery black bat wings broke completely free from their fleshy confines, sending a shower of blood all over Sephiroth and Alexia, and Sephiroth's couch, to stretch, quivering, towards the ceiling.   
  
Alexia was sobbing, face buried into the cushions, trembling.  
  
"Oh my god… oh my god…" She panted, crying. "What…happened…." The wings shook delicately with her sobs, twitching with new life. Sephiroth hurried into another room, coming back with a towel and bandages. Alexia was still sobbing when he returned. "What…happened…." Sephiroth began carefully dabbing the blood away, soaking the towel and went to work bandaging the large rips in the skin along her back. Even as he began cleaning the wounds, however, the skin was already beginning to knit together where it was not separated. He froze, watching in awe.  
  
"What are you….?" He breathed. Alexia's sobs became more choked.  
  
"…Sephiroth?!…" Alexia didn't care if he was the ice god or not, she needed some sort of comfort. "What happened…?! I can't see….!" Sephiroth quickly bandaged the wounds all the way up her back and around the joints of the newly grown wings. He used the towel to wipe away some of the blood from the quivering wingtip closest to him.   
  
"Can you feel that." He asked as he did so. Alexia jumped, gasping, in response.  
  
"What happened?!?!" She sounded panicked.  
  
"…You sprouted wings." He said flatly. Alexia choked.  
  
"…Chaos…" The word barely came out as a whisper.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Hojo put the cells of a demon called Chaos into me to help me fight the mako treatments."  
  
"Its physically changed you…"  
  
"I don't think this was supposed to happen…" Alexia whispered. She tried to sit up, but winced, gasping.  
  
"Sit still while I get you cleaned up. You're a mess."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't be. This wasn't your fault."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"No one believes this, but I do have a heart." Sephiroth said, a tinge of hurt in his voice.  
  
"I know. I don't blame you for hiding it, either. This world is dangerous." Alexia whispered, wincing as he began cleaning off the other wing, causing it to cringe away from his touch. Finishing, he let her sit up again. The overlarge shirt hung in a bunch around the base of the wings, but kept her covered and she turned to face him.  
  
"…Sweet fuck!" Sephiroth's eyes widened in surprise. Alexia's eyes began to water. She knew she wasn't ugly. Had her face changed as well…?  
  
"What?!" She demanded, voice rising in pitch to a squeak in her distress.  
  
"Your eyes…" Alexia jumped up, not caring how much blood she'd lost, or how badly mako poisoned she was, and charged into what she hoped was the bathroom. Her house sense had been right, and she stumbled into the cool, clean little room, leaning heavily against the marble sink as she gazed into the mirror. Her face was unchanged save for a few splatters of blood and tearstains… Except her eyes. Her eyes were glowing brilliantly, much brighter than Sephiroth's, and were no longer her natural shade of deep brown, but a brilliant, glowing crimson. She let out a startled cry, stumbling backwards. Further away from the mirror, she caught sight of the large, black and red leathery Chaos Wings sprouting from her shoulders. They'd been partially folded but spread in a gesture of alarm as she noticed herself. She focused on their presence, and managed to get them to move by her will, adjusting to their existence. They were indeed a part of her now, and moved with her just like any other limb might, though they seemed to express her emotions the way one did when they talked with their hands-strongly.   
  
They were folded tight against her back as she stumbled back out into Sephiroth's living room, as if she were trying to hide them. Alexia was miserable, hurting, sick, and now she wasn't even fully human. She didn't even look at Sephiroth as she sank back down into the couch, burying her face against one of the back cushions and crying.  
  
Sephiroth sat in silence, bewildered and slightly alarmed. He felt sort of sorry for the girl: He knew what it was like to be set apart, both physically and emotionally, from the rest of the world. Still, he had no idea how to comfort her. He'd never received an ounce of comfort in his life from another person, nor had he given any. He reached out a hand to her shoulder carefully. It made her jump, but she turned, not shoving him away.  
  
"Do you think I'm going to change more?" She asked, eerie crimson eyes boring up into his, swirling with fear. Sephiroth shook his head.  
  
"It would have happened with the rest." He assured her. Alexia nodded, leaning back, going silent.  
  
"…You know what I just realized?" She said after a long time in silence. Sephiroth glanced back over at her. "…I can't go home now. Not like this. I'm not human, and I don't belong in my own world any more… No one would believe what happened, because you're not supposed to be real, and I can't hide this… The eyes, maybe… but…." She trailed off, choking. Sephiroth heaved a sigh.  
  
"Life will lead you where it will. You can't change that. Hojo said you're tough as nails…"  
  
"He's going to put me in SOLDIER." Alexia choked, wiping her tears away angrily with a blood-smeared arm. Sephiroth sighed.  
  
"That figures." The phone in the corner rang. Sephiroth growled, standing and striding over to it, snatching up the receiver before it could ring twice. He listened quietly for a moment, lips twisting in anger, and without replying, hung up again.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 7  
  
-It just figures…-  
  
Alexia watched Sephiroth's face darken as he listened, and winced when he hung up sharply without reply. He turned back to her, face easing a little.  
  
"Lemmie guess: Professor Fuckface, right?" She said dryly. The pain was subsiding already and her wings were folded neatly at her back, barely noticeable from where they were tucked against her shoulders. Sephiroth's lips twitched into a cold smile.  
  
"I like that."  
  
"Thought you would."  
  
"You're to start training tomorrow." He added, voice cool. Alexia sighed.  
  
"Figures."  
  
"At six A.M."  
  
"Fuck!"  
  
"Get used to it."  
  
"Goddamnit…." Alexia muttered, rubbing her eyes. "Can you call him back and told him I died?" Sephiroth frowned.  
  
"Don't be a coward. You'll just get flattened if you try to pussy yourself out of everything." He said darkly. Alexia scowled.  
  
"You know something?" She asked, drawing his attention. Sephiroth raised a pale eyebrow with a certain pompous elegance. "You really are an asshole." She said flatly. His eyes flared in their green glow for a moment, betraying his flare of anger, then turned a cold jade as they narrowed to slits.  
  
"You don't like it?" He hissed, stalking towards her angrily. "How about I just kill you here and now and send your corpse back to Hojo to mutilate further…" Alexia stared coldly up at him. He was only feet away when he got a face full of pillow, sending a few tufts of delicate chocobo down flying with the force. Alexia sat cross-legged, wings spread halfway, a small smile on her lips. "Prat!" Sephiroth snarled, snatching the pillow before it fell and casting it aside angrily. Alexia stuck her tongue out at him, making a rude noise. In a flare of anger, Sephiroth drew a knife from his hip and stuck it deeply into Alexia's shoulder. She didn't wince.  
  
"You know," She said calmly, eyes locked onto his. "Hojo's made me to be your replacement. He's going to off you as soon as he can. I know how he's going to do it too. He didn't tell me this, but I can guess pretty accurately from what I know about your story in my world. Tell me, is there a young cadet here named Cloud Strife?" She smiled. "You'd notice him, I'm sure. Small, scrawny, spiky blonde hair and startling blue eyes. Completely useless." Sephiroth's lip twitched lightly. "You have a mission to Nibelheim soon?" She pressed. Sephiroth's eyes widened.  
  
"That's top secret." He hissed. Alexia shrugged.   
  
"I don't count." Sephiroth glared. "Anyway… You'll find something in that reactor. Something you won't like. Hojo's betting on your emotional instability, that you crack. Tell me, what's your mother's name?" Sephiroth's glare darkened. "Hojo has told you. Jenova, right?" Sephiroth lunged backwards, hissing, eyes wide now. "Listen to me." Alexia went on, dead serious now. "Jenova is not your mother. Hojo's just fucking with your brain. Jenova isn't even a woman. Your true biological mother is a woman named Lucrecia, a scientist that worked with Professors Ghast and Hojo. Hold that secret in your heart, Sephiroth. If not another thing I ever say even reaches your brain, because every word I utter is so inconsequential to you, hear this: Jenova is not your mother: You are human. Don't let Hojo win." She stopped abruptly, letting her words sink in. Sephiroth sat in silence, blinking. He was deeply disturbed by her words, and wanted to deny their validity, but somehow he couldn't avoid believing her.  
  
"And if I ignore you?"  
  
"You'll die a horrible painful death under the control of a foreign being in about…five years. You'll never know the truth, you'll never be loved or understood, or really even respected. You'll die alone and hated by the world. I don't exaggerate." Sephiroth stood frozen in silence. The seriousness in this girls' voice unnerved him, and her words, while irritatingly cliché struck a chord. Sephiroth rubbed his forehead.  
  
"I have to think alone for a while…" he wandered off, leaving Alexia alone.  
  
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AN...  
  
yeah.... its kinda stupid. lol. I dun care though. Don't worry, I'm not that big of a bitch in real life. I do swear a lot though (which is prolly why I like to write for Cid so much, lol) And my real name isn't Alexia either. you can tell it doesn't fit, lol. :) But...anonymity is something I'm keeping for now...   
  
And no, this isn't going to be some stupid -INSERT MY CHARACTER INTO A ROMANCE WITH SEPHIROTH /HERE/- fic. he's hot, sure...but in my opinion, the poor blokes' gay as they get. No luck, gals. sorry, lol :) That and its just supid. He's just someone for 'me' to bitch at. hehe. (it could get intersting later, lol.) Anyhow...r & r... or not. I don't really like how this is turning out, but I thought, again, that I'd give it a try, lol :) 


	2. Part Two

PART 2 Chapter 8 -Fit-

"Wake up!" Alexia blinked awake, groaning.  
"Sleep five more minutes…mom…?" Alexia murmured, not quite coherent yet. Sephiroth glared down at her, and gave her a sharp shake. Alexia yelped, sitting bolt upright in alarm. She turned to look at Sephiroth, eyes narrowed to glowing red slits. "You just can't be civil, can you?" She said flatly.  
"Get up. You have training this morning, remember?" "Shit." "Basically." "How long do I have?" "Ten minutes." Alexia's eyes went wide. "SHIT!" She leapt off the couch, knocking Sephiroth back, as she ran to his bathroom. Sephiroth glared as he heard his shower running. The sound came and went quickly, and Alexia came running back out, back in the blood smeared shorts and shirt, though now what blood from her wings he couldn't clean up was gone from her face and hair. "I can't wear this." She said skidding to a halt before Sephiroth who was dressed and ready for another day in hell. She seemed nonplussed by his glare. "You'll get a uniform as soon as you enroll." He said coldly.  
"I hope that includes underwear…" She muttered. Sephiroth grimaced.  
"You may be a special case for that." "No shit, Sherlock." Alexia snapped bitterly. She sighed. "I guess I'm stuck in boxers. I don't suppose you have something that isn't covered in blood, though?" "If you bleed all over any more of my clothes I'm going to be mad." He growled.  
"Like that was /my/ fault." She countered. "Besides, you never wear anything but that leather and bondage anyway." Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at her, surprised.  
"Leather and bondage." "Yes." "It's a trench coat. Leather, yes, but I see nothing 'bondage' about it." Alexia rolled her eyes.  
"Ok, Mr. 'Wears two belts for a shirt.'" Sephiroth frowned. "Hurry up, you're fine like you are." He turned and strode out the door, Alexia running after him, wingtips catching the air lightly as she ran.

She followed Sephiroth down one white hallway after another, running in nothing but her bloodstained clothes, barefoot and still slightly wet from her impromptu shower. She watched Sephiroth walk, long silver hair bellowing out behind him with his stride. Carefully, as she ran (he walked much too fast for her short legs to keep up with just walking) she experimented with gliding on her new wings, finding she could keep up with him much better. Alexia smiled. She rather liked them.  
"We're late." Sephiroth muttered darkly as they finally entered a final, empty corridor, leading to a small office like building. Alexia followed closely, landing right as Sephiroth opened the door, and walking in casually, wings folded tight against her back so as to look as normal as possible. She didn't care what Sephiroth thought of her, but the rest of the world was a different story. She followed as Sephiroth strode up to a small desk surrounded by a booth. Behind it was a row of keys and a door leading into another room. "New cadet." Sephiroth said to the clerk at the window. The man raised his eyes.  
"General Sephiroth, always a pleasure." "Under Hojo's orders." He said coldly, ignoring the greeting, and shoved Alexia foreword. Alexia glared back at the General.  
"A girl?" "She needs tags and a uniform." Sephiroth went on blandly.  
"I don't think we have equipment for women…" The man argued weakly.  
"Standard uniform is fine. Just get something small. I know you have all sizes, you fit out that runt Strife, you can fit her." Alexia felt a sharp spark go through her at Cloud Strife's mention as a 'runt'. "True true. Come back with me, young lady." The man said, opening a door to go back behind the counter, glancing dubiously up at Sephiroth when the general wasn't looking. "Why on earth are you wearing clothes drenched in blood, miss?" He asked once he was out of earshot. Alexia shrugged. ""s all I have. Well, I have a uniform now, I suppose." She said softly, embarrassed.  
"Okay, well we'll get you fixed up with a few changes, anyway. I'm sorry all I have is mens' clothing." He said kindly. Alexia smiled.  
"Its alright. Anything's better than this. Oh--" She paused. "Um… few other things. One is I don't have…um…well…." The mans' eyes went wide for a moment.  
"Oh! Well… uh… I can order something for you special but it'll be a day." "That's fine." Alexia said. Not like she had a choice. "The shorts are fine, and if you have like a bandage or something for the upper half-" She was instantly tossed a roll of bandages, akin to a wide ace bandage. "thanks." She went on. "Um, the other thing is… Well…" She spread her wings, which she'd been hiding until this point, and the man's eyes went wide. "Hojo's latest toy." She explained, and the man frowned.  
"Someone like Hojo shouldn't be allowed." He growled. "Well, I'll see what I can do for you." "Thank you." She said meekly. The man went to bustling himself to work, digging through stacks of neatly folded uniforms, testing sizes by holding them up and glancing at her figure critically.  
"Wait." Alexia jumped, startled by Sephiroth's sudden reappearance. She noticed a small phone folded in his huge hand. The man looked up from the box of cadet's uniforms. "She's going straight into SOLDIER." Alexia jumped.  
"What?!" She cried.  
"Hojo's orders." Sephiroth clipped out emotionlessly. Alexia frowned.  
"That's sick." The man sighed, shaking his head at Alexia's comment.  
"Has she even had any training, General?" He ventured carefully.  
"She took out three Third Class SOLDIERS during a fight." Sephiroth said, raising a platinum eyebrow at her. Alexia grinned sheepishly.  
"Hojo denies it, but I was abducted." She said smartly. There was a swift movement and a loud resounding smacking sound as Sephiroth slapped her firmly across the face, eyes flashing.  
"Watch your mouth." He snapped. Alexia's eyes watered with the sting, her hand going up to the bright red, hand shaped mark on her cheek. She glared daggers at the General. "That's treason , talking like that. It'll get you killed, or worse, sent back to the labs. I suggest you learn some self control. Fast." The other man stared wide eyed at Sephiroth's treatment. Alexia's face smoothed over into a controlled, vacant expression. Sephiroth finally turned his glare away from her. She shrugged over at the other man, eyes apologetic. She was given her new uniform in silence.

Alexia didn't mind the men's clothing, in fact, she rather liked it, but it was a royal pain to try and manage the tight fitting turtle-neck cut shirt around her wings. In the end, two long gaps were cut in the back of the shirt with buttons placed above and below to adjust for space and closure. This suited Alexia just fine as well, though again she was harshly aware that that was all fine and well except it didn't matter whether or not she liked anything any more. She was given an ID and tags.  
"Name?" "Alexia" "Last name?" "… does it really matter? I doubt there's going to be any guys out there named Alexia." "We need a last name." "Sephiroth doesn't have one." The man winced at her pointedly ignoring the man's title. "Or is his first name 'The General'?" This earned her another vicious slap as /The General/ had quite obviously overheard. Alexia was tempted to slap him back.  
"No way to treat a lady, /General/." Sephiroth fixed her a cold stare.  
"There are no women on this facility. You are equal to the men. Act like it." Alexia hitched up her pants as the other man finally gave up and simply printed her tags, handing them to her. "Fine. Are we done?" She asked, irritated. She had hoped to find some sort of safety in Sephiroth: Maybe not friendship, but some level of camaraderie, but he was making it obvious that was the last thing he wanted to allow. Without answering, he strode off towards the exit, not looking back once. Alexia sauntered after him, in no hurry to follow the man anywhere.

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Chapter 9 -Schooled-

"So what happens if I just ran away now?" Alexia said after a while of following Sephiroth angrily. He'd kept up his quick stride, not allowing a moment for her to realign her thoughts properly.  
"You'd probably be caught and killed." Alexia snorted.  
"Better than this." "You're alive, and you're not with Hojo. Be grateful." "Why? I'm stuck with /you/. I think I preferred Hojo. At least he wasn't a raging asshole." She said smartly. "Are you always like this?" She added, finally causing Sephiroth to at least respond by shooting her a glare. "Its no wonder you question your humanity." His shoulders went rigid. "Not to mention everyone else… ever heard of something called a 'friend'?" Sephiroth spun on his heel to face her. Still jogging slightly, Alexia nearly barreled into him.  
"Shut UP!" He bellowed. Had the hallways not been completely deserted, he would have likely caused ever man in the area to piss his pants. Even Alexia reeled a little, stunned.  
"Ooh. Hit a sore spot. Well excuse me." Alexia inwardly realized that she was no better than Sephiroth, and being uncharacteristically bitchy, but she didn't really care at the moment. For some reason, she'd developed a personal vendetta against the white-haired General. Sephiroth had gone quiet. She followed in silence, letting him think. Hopefully, she thought, his head isn't completely rocks and some of that sank in…They stepped out a final pair of heavy doors into the brown Midgar sunlight. All across the open cement that sprawled before them for acres, men trained in different classes, some working out, others fencing or sparring under supervision. The people closest were young boys, all in cadet's uniforms, as young as thirteen or fourteen. Alexia felt sorry for them. They all looked scared, tired, and miserable. She spotted who must have been Cloud Strife amongst them. Further back was a deeper sea of blue, older, burlier men training with real weapons, moving fast and hard. The smell of sweat and blood filled the air lightly, and Alexia realized her senses must have increased their sensitivity with the mako, because it struck her as a very strong odor. "Gawd… it stinks out here…" "Midgar air." Sephiroth said flatly.  
"Men." She corrected him. He shot her a dubious glance, and she smirked. "At least /you're/ clean." She added with a disgusted look around. Sephiroth let out a dry snort and strode off through the crowd, Alexia trailing off behind him carefully. She had the distinct feeling he didn't want to be seen directly with her, so she followed at a safe distance. As she walked, men began to whistle and make lewd remarks as she passed. She ignored them, wings folded around her shoulders like a coat, hiding both themselves and her uniform. The cat calls faded off cautiously as she approached where Sephiroth stood talking with another instructor. The other man, a little older than Sephiroth, glanced over at her with raised eyebrows as she approached. She gave him a respectful but cautious bow, leftover from her martial art's training.  
"She's too small." He said firmly "Hojo's insane." "We already knew that." Sephiroth replied in a low tone.  
"She'll get ripped to shreds!" "Fine by me." Sephiroth replied with a snort.  
"Sir!" "This girl isn't my problem, Mayers." "But she can't--" "Excuse me." Alexia broke in, voice soft. Both considerably tall men turned to glance down at her. Sephiroth frowned.  
"Yes?" He said in a clipped tone.  
"You might as well let me try, or I'm good as dead anyway, so if, as you say, I get 'ripped to shreds' it won't really matter." She paused. "Either way, it'll be back to Hojo for me, so I might as well try." She repeated. Sephiroth gave her a suspicious glare. Alexia was on her best behavior for the other man, all of the sudden.  
"Are you sure?" Alexia shrugged.  
"I don't have much of a choice, really. Might as well be brave, Sir." She said. Mayers shrugged.  
"Suppose you're right." He paused. "But shouldn't you be with the cadets?" He asked. Alexia shrugged, letting her wings fold more naturally to reveal her uniform.  
"Guess not." Mayers eyes had darted to her wings, though.  
"Holy Shit!" A few of the men practicing behind him paused to take a look themselves.  
"Yeah." Alexia agreed. "I'm starting to realize I'm gunna get that a lot." Mayers' eyes were wide as he shook his head. He glanced at Sephiroth.  
"Hojo?" He asked softly. Sephiroth nodded slowly, just once. "Well, lets see how you do. What's yer name?" "Alex." "Right. You're to call me Sergeant Mayers, is that clear?" "Yes sir." Alexia said softly.  
"What? Louder, damnit!" "Yes sir!" "Better," Mayers mumbled. "Rei!" One pair of men paused in their sparring to stop and glance at Mayers.  
"Sir?" "C'mere!" Rei, a slender man with sharp golden eyes and matching hair strode foreword, saluting first to Sephiroth who still was standing back and observing quietly, then to Mayers.  
"Sir." "You and Alex: Sparring match. Now!" Mayers snapped. Rei glanced around, eyes finally landing on Alexia, a foot shorter than he.  
"Um…Sir?" "What are the rules, Sir?" Alexia asked quietly to the Sergeant who still stood over her.  
"Aint none. You're open now, first to fall looses. Just don't fuckin' kill anyone." Rei was still looking confusedly over at Mayers.  
"Sir? A gir--" He was cut off as Alexia took a leap at his throat, knocking him backwards with her weight.  
"I'm as much a woman as you are, damnit!" She shouted in his face. "Now fight!" Rei regained his composure, leaping back into a crouch, eyes flashing. Sephiroth watched idly.  
"He's a Third Class…" Mayers murmured to his commanding officer. "Might as well start looking for someone to scrape her up afterwards…" Sephiroth snorted. Alexia had just managed to throw the Third Class into the cement with a snarl. "Do we teach that?" Mayers said, bewildered.  
"No." "What was it?" "Ask her yourself, Mayers." Sephiroth grumbled. There was a high-pitched scream as Alexia charged again, throwing kicks and punches as hard and fast as she could. She landed a few.  
"The fuck are you doing, Rei!?" Mayers shouted angrily. The young man's face set like concrete, and he looked suddenly determined to polish his shoes with the girl. Rei let out a war cry of his own, sending a vicious kick at her head. Alexia jumped up, using her wings to stabilize herself, actually flying upwards to shoulder level with the SOLDIER THIRD. From there she dropped into a different, vicious throw, grabbing him around the neck and flipping him backwards with her legs, using her weight and the partial choke to drop him. "Huh.. I have seen that before…" Mayers muttered. Sephiroth didn't even glance at the man. He was watching as Alexia began punching Rei in the face repeatedly, breaking his nose in the process. She managed to stun him, and dropped into a vicious choke, the larger figure squirming desperately against the grip she had on the collar of his shirt (which she was using along with her entire forearms to choke him), failing miserably. He was beginning to pass out when Sephiroth stepped foreword.  
"ENOUGH." He clipped sternly. Alexia jumped away, panting. Her eyes were glazed, body drenched in sweat. Rei was sprawled on the cement, bleeding and gasping as he tried to regain blood flow back to his brain. Alexia stood in a defensive posture, eyes darting from Rei to Sephiroth and back. "The match is over. You may relax." Sephiroth said. Alexia relaxed visibly, and then walked back over to Rei, who was glaring, still on the ground. She extended a hand to him. He glared at her hand. Alexia sighed, and bowed again instead.  
"Thank you." She said politely, then turned and walked away again, wiping blood from under one eye. She glanced at her slightly blood stained fingers and licked them off absently. Had Sephiroth not raised an eyebrow at her in response to her actions, she wouldn't have even noticed it. However, she glanced guiltily down at her hand again, finally noticing the taste of her own blood in her mouth, and paled.  
"That was weird…" She murmured. Sephiroth dropped his eyebrow again. Alexia shivered. "Well, that told us a lot." Mayers muttered in response to the fight. He had not seen Alexia's brief slip of humanity. "Come on. Lets get you set up with a weapon." "Yes Sir." Alexia followed the older man in a daze, still staring down at her hand. Sephiroth followed like some shadow behind, silent as death.

OoOoOoOoO AN:  
heh...I finally decided to poke around with this a little more... at least post what I had... god..I wrote almost all of this right after I posted the first part, and have started a 10th chapter.... maybe I'll keep working on it. At least for now, there's something to hold those few that have been following this... Mildly interesting, anyway.... (shrugs) I'm trying to tking of more ways I can harass Sephiroth right now, lol. . And no, I can't actually do all that spiffy fighting stuff..., lol. well... most of it... lol. 


	3. Part Three

PART 3 An: Before you go on, if you've been following this from the start, you might want to skim over the last two parts, or at least the last few paragraphs of ch.9 in part 2 because I pick right up from where I left off without much of a clue as to what happened. I did a lot of reading back today to get my facts straight.

Chapter 10 -Measuring Up-

"Have you had any weapon's training?" Mayers asked as Alexia followed him quietly.  
"No, Sir." She said. She was still staring down at her own hands, chilled. That was /really/ creepy… I had no control over that at all…She shivered. She didn't want a weapon. It would mean more bloodshed, and more temptation.  
"Hojo's an idiot." Mayers mumbled angrily. "Putting an untrained civilian directly into SOLDIER…" "…" Alexia wanted to agree, but Sephiroth was standing darkly over her shoulder, and she didn't want to get slapped again.  
"Lets just get this done, Mayers. I have things to do." "Yes, General. Come on, Miss." Alexia glanced over at Sephiroth, giving him a bland look, before following Mayers into a weapons shed at the edge of the open training area. "…I have had some martial art's training, though…" Alexia added softly as an afterthought. Mayers turned to look at her. She gave him a weak smile. "They just never gave me anything sharp to play with back home." Sephiroth snorted.  
"With your brains, you probably would have given Hojo a nice /corpse/ to play with." He muttered. Alexia frowned, glaring openly at the General. She had the deepest urge to look up into those cold jade eyes, smile and say 'bite me.' But she didn't. Not yet, anyway.  
Mayers shot Sephiroth a glance. He knew his General could be an ass, but this seemed over the top. He cleared his throat, and led the two into the darkened building, throwing on a light as he went. Alexia glanced around, and smiled.  
"Ooh. Fun." She commented to herself. Sephiroth gave her a bored look. Meanwhile, Mayers was looking about the mix of weapons rather desperately, muttering mostly to himself, though his words were aimed at Alexia.  
"Lessee…guns will be too big… that's…just ridiculous…no… martial arts, huh… no…" He glanced over at Alexia again. "You're a trick, you are. These aren't meant for someone as small as you…maybe a katana?" He thought aloud. Alexia smiled, and pointed over his shoulder.  
"What about that?" She asked sweetly. Mayers gave her an incredulous look, and Sephiroth openly snorted in scorn.  
"Only a rare few SOLDIER Firsts can wield those, and eve my best is unpredictable with a Buster Sword, at best." He said flatly. Alexia smiled.  
"Oh, you mean Zack?" She said casually, voice raised to enhance a feminine cuteness she was learning to use against Sephiroth at odd intervals. Sephiroth's face fell into a startled frown.  
"You haven't met Zack." He said flatly, voice low. Mayers was listening with vast confusion. Alexia just shrugged in dismissal.  
"You should know better than to be surprised by that, /General/." She said, voice still sugary sweet. Sephiroth scowled. Mayers cleared his throat again.  
"The fact of the matter is I doubt you could even lift it." He pointed out. Alexia shrugged.  
"Can't I try? I mean, either I'll manage, or I'll make an ass out of myself. I don't have much to loose anymore, Sir." She said, dropping the cutesy act she'd pulled on Sephiroth. Sephiroth snorted again disdainfully. "Fine. Be my guest." Mayers hauled down one of the buster swords from a rack of about a half dozen, staggering slightly with its unwieldy weight, before sticking it into the dirt floor. As it stood, partially buried in the dirt, the top of the handle was about eyelevel with Alexia. "It's bigger than you are." Sephiroth said. His tone of voice added covertly 'you idiot' to the end of his sentence. Alexia just smiled at him. "How long is that?" She asked, pointing to his masamune. "Butt to blade it's a little over seven and a half feet, isn't it General?" Mayers asked. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. Alexia smiled.  
"And how tall are you, General Sephiroth?" A pause, "…Minus your incredible gravity defying bangs…" She added with a smirk. Sephiroth huffed. Mayer's jaw dropped. You just didn't talk like that to ShinRa's top officer… "Six one." Alexia smiled, not needing to say anything else -she knew already that she'd pay dearly for as much as she'd already said, but it was worth it- and turned back to the sword standing in the ground beside her. She had to stretch up on her toes to pull the weapon fully from the earth, but she managed well enough.  
"Oof. Damn. Can't you make these fuckers hollow or something?" She commented, holding it aloft in both hands. She had to stand in a wide battle stance just to keep her balance with it still, but she was adjusting to its weight quickly.  
Mayers gaped for a moment, before looking back up at Sephiroth. The General didn't have anything to say, apparently. Alexia squared her shoulders, still holding the sword, and glanced back at the Sergeant. "We actually tried that but it lowered their durability so much that it wasn't worth the effort." Alexia shrugged, and let go of the weapon in her hands with her left, holding it by one arm. She bounced it lightly in her grip, started to draw it back. "I can hold it… can we go out somewhere where I can try this thing without worrying about whapping the General upside the head please?" Mayers was a little taken aback.  
"Uh…" He began, uncertain. "Sure." Sephiroth said, turning a smile down on Alexia. He turned, leading them back outside with a wave over his shoulder.  
The girl's smile faded instantly. Sephiroth didn't smile. He didn't say 'sure', he wasn't /that easy going/ … he had to be up to something. Still, as Alexia glanced down the length of the weapon in her hand, she had to smile. It'd take some training up, but she could wield this as well as anyone. Maybe better.  
-  
Chapter 11 -The Better Half-

Alexia followed Sephiroth and Sergeant Mayers in apprehension as they moved across the open training area once again, moving to the furthest corner. She took a mild satisfaction in turning heads as she glided lightly after the two men, in order to keep up. At least until Sephiroth turned on her out of nowhere, catching her by the collar and dropping her from where she'd been gliding at about the same height as his shoulder.  
"You're endangering yourself by revealing those, you moron." He said in a cold hiss. Alexia folded her wings quickly, but shot him a hurt look.  
"Then slow down. I can't keep up. Your legs are twice as long as mine!" Sephiroth snorted.  
"Well, then learn to keep up." "I was." She argued. Mayers stood off to one side, watching yet another puzzling encounter between the General and this strange girl. He couldn't comprehend arguing with Sephiroth. He wondered how long this little whelp would live, noble as her courage was. Sephiroth looked up from where he'd been glaring down at Alexia, and right at Mayers, who instantly saluted, then averted his eyes, hoping to hell he'd manage to set a good example. Sephiroth sighed.  
"Look. I'll slow down if you just quit bitching for a while, and we'll deal with /this/ later, got it?" Alexia swallowed, but nodded in agreement.  
"Yes, Sir." Sephiroth straightened out from where he'd stooped lightly to look the short girl in the eye, and let out a low breath.  
"/Thank/you." He turned and went on without a second glance at the Sergeant or Alexia, and headed off into the same corner of the asphalt, though albeit slower than he had.

Mayers scratched his head, startled by event his minuscule gesture of humanity on the General's part. He supposed that Alexia had earned it just through her apparent balls of steel, but it still startled him, and confused him. The boys at the bar would never believe this…

Alexia was beginning to wonder just where in the hell they were headed when Sephiroth finally stopped at the final group of men. Most of them were in SOLDIER uniforms, solidly built men with flashing weapons. Some were dressed down in street clothes and just working out in their spare time. Most turned to look as Sephiroth approached, all saluting and a few calling out friendly, but polite greetings.  
"Good afternoon, General… Sarge!" Sephiroth spared a few glances and nothing else. Alexia was having a hard time not staring, or gawking around. "Hey! Who's the squirt?!" Alexia frowned, glancing up at Mayers, who had 'her' sword. They hadn't let her carry it for some reason. Sephiroth had just taken it away from her and handed it to Sergeant Mayers, and there it had stayed. She had the feeling Sephiroth expected her to eat dirt, and didn't like how he was bringing her back to his top men, as they obviously were. "HEEEEEY! SEPHY! MY MAN!" Alexia's face lit up at that call. God, she knew that voice even though she'd never heard it. Besides, who else would call the Great General "Sephy"? Sephiroth let out a low growl in response.  
"Remind me to light your bed on fire tonight while you sleep, Zachary." He said flatly. Alexia swallowed a snort. Zack saluted Sephiroth loosely, grinning.  
"Alright. Its been cold, ya know." Zack said around a smirk. Alexia stepped discreetly behind Sephiroth, feeling suddenly shy. Dark blue eyes slid right off of Sephiroth, jumped to Mayers, then landed right on her, though.  
"Who's this?" Sephiroth looked over his shoulder, following Zack's gaze, and snorted, but didn't respond. "…Seph?" Zack pressed. Sephiroth stepped foreword, taking the bulky sword from Mayers and dropped it with a loud clatter at Alexia's feet. Alexia looked up at him with empty eyes. I hate you."Your new punching bag." Sephiroth answered after a moment. Mayers began to protest, but was silenced with a dark glare from the General.  
"Seph, what does Hojo have you on?" Zack said, looking back down at Alexia again, looking more puzzled than anything.  
"She thinks she can use a buster sword. Prove her wrong and I'll buy you drinks for the next month." Sephiroth said. Alexia's jaw dropped.  
"You ASS!" She squeaked. She wanted nothing more than to kick the man's leather-clad shins. Sephiroth's face lit up in livid anger, and even Mayers took a step foreword, ready to cuff Alexia for her words, but Zack burst into laughter. That stopped everything. When the man finally calmed down enough to speak again, he smiled.  
"Okay, well, can you lift it?" Alexia simply bent down and picked the weapon up, dropping into a low defensive stance with it held at the ready. Zack blinked. "I don't see the problem, Seph…" Sephiroth gave a low growl, even as Zack bent to look the girl in the eye. "Red eyes?" Alexia gave him a crooked, humorless smirk.  
"I want a sparring match between the two of you." Sephiroth said sternly. Alexia rolled her eyes as Zack straightened up.  
"Seph, she's just a kid--" "She smeared Rei. She's /not/ just a kid, but she's turning into an arrogant little prat and needs a little lesson or two." Sephiroth said in a low voice. Zack arched an eyebrow. Alexia, having heard, sulked.  
"I wish I was." She said sullenly. Zack sighed, running a hand through his wild hair. "Seph, we need to talk." "Do it, Zachary. That's an order." Zack groaned, but gestured for Alexia to follow him into a ring that was painted onto the pavement, and drew the oversized sword from his back, dropping into a stance similar to Alexia's.  
"Having a rough day?" He asked softly. Alexia shrugged. "Could be worse." Her face hardened. "Bring it." Zack swung his weapon and she barely missed, dodging to one side, before bringing her matching weapon to bear over him. She didn't really want to hurt Zack.  
"Had any training?" He went on, talking as they sparred. Alexia was gasping with effort as the match went on, mostly managing to dodge everything she couldn't parry, but winded. She shook her head, circling as she tried to give herself a little spare time.  
"Not with swords" "And you asked to use a buster? Why?" Zack was flat out terrifying to Alexia as a foe, but as he asked her questions, his face softened with his curiosity, and she could see the benign personality behind the intense features. She gave him an honest smile.  
"Compensation." She said. He laughed sharply, before dashing in to take another, rougher swing at her. She blocked it, but the shock to her arms knocked her back straight to the ground this time. "Aah!" She looked up to at first only see steel as Zack lay the tip of his blade at her neck. Her eyes traveled up its broad length to meet his. "You win?" She panted. He grinned, pulling the sword away and offering her a hand up.  
Sephiroth sat by the sidelines, sulking. In his opinion, Zack had been far too nice, and he'd hoped his friend would oh… perhaps accidentally decapitate the girl or chop off a limb or two. He glared daggers at his first in command as Zack and Alexia approached him. Alexia was nearly dragging her sword now, wiped out and staggering slightly, but Zack was grinning, as always. That happy-go-lucky attitude of his really pissed Sephiroth off, some days.  
"You wanna know what I think?" Zack said, as if reading his mind. "No." Sephiroth said flatly.  
"I think all this girl needs is lunch and some formal training." Alexia was too tired to smile, though she wished she wasn't. -  
Chapter 12 -For What it's Worth…-

Alexia had ended up following Sephiroth again, though this time, Zack was in the lead, marching the both of them off towards one of the buildings that formed the whole of this huge military complex. She remained quiet, listening to the two men talk.  
"You're being unfair, Seph." "She's a nightmare. A regular bitch." "Do you really blame her?" Zack argued. "Besides," He spared a glance over his shoulder to see if indeed he were being eavesdropped on as he suspected. Alexia gave him a mild stare. "It sounds like you haven't given her a /chance/ not to be a bitch." He glanced over at Alexia again. "Self defense?" He asked her. Sephiroth quirked an eyebrow, throwing her a stern look, as if he hadn't thought she'd be listening, only a few paces behind them. Alexia shrugged as she walked.  
"Mostly. But I'll admit that the General seems to keep challenging me, whether on purpose or not, and its not helping my mood any." She answered honestly, even going so far as to give the silver-haired man the benefit of the doubt. Sephiroth snorted. Zack nodded.  
"You should stop being so honest. Its going to get you into trouble." He commented. Alexia shrugged again. She was worn out still and beginning to feel a little peeked.  
"'kay…" She said softly, looking down.  
"Oh, now she's quiet and polite…" Sephiroth sniffed. Zack shrugged.  
"Low blood sugar." He said, then glanced back again at Alexia. "What'd you have for breakfast?" He asked her. Alexia thought for a moment.  
"A mouthful of insults I decided to swallow." Zack laughed lightly.  
"Well no wonder. Those don't stick very well at all. You need something heartier to eat before you go out and beat boys all day, kiddo." Alexia giggled softly. Zack's laid-back nature was like a light in total darkness, but for some reason, it was causing all the defenses she'd built up against Sephiroth through the day, to crumble. "Name's Zack, by the way." He added into her silence. Alexia smiled up at him.  
"I know. I'm Alex." Zack blinked at her rather odd response.  
"Huh?" He looked from the girl to Sephiroth and back, puzzled. Neither explained further.  
"We'll talk later." Sephiroth said flatly.  
"You keep saying that, Sir." Alexia pointed out softly. Zack laughed.  
"Don't worry, he usually makes good on such statements." He gave Sephiroth a stern look when Alexia wasn't paying attention.

It was well into the afternoon, and the mess hall was mostly empty as Zack led Alexia and Sephiroth into its cooler exterior. Alexia's stomach growled loudly at the smell of food, and Zack laughed again, quickly showing her to the grub line, he and Sephiroth stepping in behind her.  
She was done and back for seconds almost before the two men were seated. She went back for thirds when Zack went to get his second serving, but slowed down after that.  
"Ravenous much?" Alexia gave Zack a startled look. She'd been completely ignoring the two, too interested in food to care if Meteor fell on all their asses while she was eating. "Crikey, when the hell was the last time you ate?!" Zack pressed. Alexia blinked, and stared off into space as she tired to think on that.  
"Um…… I duno, actually…" She said softly. Zack shot Sephiroth an accusing look. The General had made the apparent mistake of telling Zack that Alexia was living with him. Sephiroth fixed him a warning glare, and Zack didn't say anything else, just shook his head. "You can come down here whenever you have the spare time. Its always open." He said instead to Alexia, who gave him a grateful smile, and a nod. She wasn't feeling transparent anymore, but was still tired. Sephiroth stood, glancing at a watch she hadn't realized he'd had.  
"Time to go. Come on." Alexia's jaw dropped. It hadn't been a half hour. Still, with no other choice, she abandoned what little remained of her food, shot Zack a forlorn look, and ran after Sephiroth's already retreating form.  
"I'm stopping by tonight." Zack called after Sephiroth, who didn't look back. "We need to talk!" Sephiroth stepped through the door and into the gray sunlight, Alexia in tow. Zack sighed, shaking his head, and finished his and Alexia's meal before wandering back outside.  
-  
Chapter 13 -Fixes Everything-

Alexia stumbled through the door to Sephiroth's apartment, took two steps and collapsed onto his couch, trembling. She didn't bruise anymore, barely bled, but she was sore, and so tired she shook head to toe. She'd received a few more firm slaps before the day had ended, due to her own big, overactive mouth, and Sephiroth wasn't talking to her /at all/ anymore. She was cold and alone and feeling sick.  
"You should eat." Sephiroth said flatly, following her inside. Alexia just groaned, still lying face-first into his couch. "You'll kill yourself." He added sternly. Alexia sat up at that, eyes watering.  
"Fuck you. Maybe I want to die. Have you ever thought of that? Huh??" Sephiroth gave her an emotionless stare. Alexia went on, voice trembling. "You know what? I want to go home, I want my mom and my dad, and my friends, and my own room with my own bed back. I don't want these wings, or this life. I don't want to eat in a mess hall, I don't want to be considered somebody else's /creation/! I DON'T WANT /YOU/ SO WHY DON'T YOU FUCKING LAY OFF FOR A LITTLE WHILE!?" She finished with a scream before collapsing back onto the couch with a choked sound, burying her head under one of the cushions.  
Sephiroth stood stalk still, eyes wide in surprise, speechless. The girl was a piece of work, no doubt about that, and at the moment, he couldn't really blame her.  
You're getting soft.His brain told him. He agreed, but there wasn't much he could do for it right now. Alexia's wingtips shook roughly as she began to sob quietly. Sephiroth turned away and was about to head for his room when the door swung open again.  
"HEEEEEY!" Zack burst in with his usual energy and enthusiasm, a large stack of boxes piled on one arm. He glanced around, eyes landing on Sephiroth. "What? What's up?" Zack asked, glancing around. He caught sight of Alexia's wings, which he hadn't noticed as of yet, and jumped. "What the--!" He took a step foreword, peering over the back of the couch at the girl curled there, and let out a small cry. "Jeez, Seph! What happened?!" Alexia looked up at him, eyes red-rimmed and sagging as she wiped them dry, and shook her head.  
"Not his fault…" She said softly. "Just…had…a breakdown…" She tried to smile, but hiccupped. "Shit happens, you know…" She looked up at Sephiroth. "Sorry… I'll… I'll be back in a bit…" She went into his bathroom, and locked the door behind her.  
The room was dead silent for a moment until Zack finally snapped out of his surprise and then set the stack of fresh pizzas down on the coffee table, shooting Sephiroth a questioning look.  
"I told her to eat or she'd kill herself. She blew up on me." Sephiroth explained in a bewildered tone.  
"Women do that." Zack informed wryly. Sephiroth sniffed irritably. "This isn't a place for women." "No shit, Seph. So what exactly /is/ she doing here, anyway? And in SOLDIER? And what's with the wings?" "Keep asking questions before I can answer one of them and I'll knock your block off, Zack." "Ooh, we /are/ in a foul mood today!" "If you had to wake up to /that/" Sephiroth countered, pointing to his still tightly shut bathroom door, "You might be cranky too." Zack laughed. "Anyway, it sounds like Hojo abducted her from her home and began experimenting on her. As far as I know, her mako levels are higher than mine, and she's been spliced with some demon named Chaos. I think she was given the demon cells to help deal with the huge amount of mako she was being exposed to… the cells managed to manifest themselves. It changed her eyes and she sprouted those lovely little bat wings…." Zack nodded, listening. "It gets better. Apparently, she's not from our world. Where se comes from, we were just characters from some story or other, but she recognized me, and you. She knows about Strife, too, apparently." Zack chuckled at this. "…Doesn't that seem strange to you?" Sephiroth added.  
"In this day and time, Seph? Not really." Zack said with a smile. Moving across the room, he knocked on the bathroom door. "Alex? You want some pizza? You have that stuff where you came from?" He called. The door cracked open, crimson eyes peering out.  
"I know what pizza is." Alexia said softly. "You want some? I got like four of 'em here." She smiled softly, stepping out. "Are you sure?" She asked softly, "I somehow get the idea that you both could eat two pizzas each easily. I think the mako hollows your legs out…" Zack laughed. "We'll just give Seph only one tonight. Don't worry, he needs to diet anyway. Bastard's getting' fat." Alexia giggled. There was nothing fat about Sephiroth, unless one used the word as a descriptor for the amount of musculature the man carried.  
"HEY! I HEARD THAT!" Sephiroth complained. He wasn't fifteen feet from where Zack and Alexia stood by the bathroom door. Alexia, now out in the light, was apparently still trying not to cry. Sephiroth swallowed as she glanced up at him.  
"Sorry I yelled," She said suddenly, voice hollow like blown glass, and just as fragile. "I'm…really…tired…" Sephiroth sighed in resignation.  
"Well, come and eat some pizza and you'll feel better." "Seph, you got any soda left? This kid could use some caffeine." Zack asked. Alexia's eyes lit up. The dark haired soldier didn't fail to notice, either. "Oops, we got an addict here, Seph!" He added. Alexia blushed, nodding abashedly. Sephiroth disappeared only to return with a half-full case of cola. Zack let loose a small cheer. "Hell yea! Seph, you're not as much a tight ass as I thought!" Alexia giggled again, smiling nervously. Zack caught that as well, and turned back to her. "What… Are you /shy/?!" Alexia blushed and gave a nervous laugh. Zack chuckled.  
"Damn… Seph, we have another one." Sephiroth groaned.  
"That's what I was most afraid of…" "What?" Alexia squeaked, eyes flashing to either man. She was terrified of relaxing at this point. Sephiroth was practically bipolar in his moods, and with Zack, it seemed anything could happen. She stood in the corner, wingtips quivering, eyes wide.  
"You remind me so much of Cloud." Zack explained. Alexia's face crinkled up.  
"Hey! …Is he really that pathetic?" "Yeah" Sephiroth and Zack chimed in unison. Alexia made a face.  
"Don't you dare underestimate him," She said, tone serious. Sephiroth and Zack exchanged a strange glance. "He may seem awkward now, but he turns out just fine…" She paused, thinking deeply before going on. "He wants to be just like you, you know," She said, looking up at Sephiroth. "You're his idol." Sephiroth made a face.  
"Awful goal to have." He commented.  
"I'll admit I agree, but you have to give him some credit just for that." Zack shrugged in agreement, popping open the first box of pizza in a plume of steam. He pulled out a piece, stuck it in his mouth, letting it hang like some bizarre tongue, and gestured for Alexia to help herself. Alexia made an excited sound, and swooped down on the pizza like some giant bird of prey, greedily stuffing her first slice into her mouth.  
Sephiroth gave her a look, but she just gave him a bland look, and went back to eating. When he looked back again, she'd devoured four slices and was working on her fifth. This time, he arched an eyebrow at her.  
"Whut?" Alexia asked thickly. Sephiroth shook his head.  
"Someone your size shouldn't be able to eat so much." He commented. Alexia munched thoughtfully, shrugging.  
"I ate that much easy before I was messed with by Professor Fuckface." She said matter-of-factly. Zack choked on his own pizza, catching the nickname for Hojo.  
"Oh! Isn't /that/ darling!" Alexia smiled, grabbing another slice of pizza, and batting good-naturedly at Sephiroth's arm when he tried to reach over her shoulder to get his own slice.  
OoOoO AN: LOOK! I'M ACTUALLY WRITING ON IT!  
Actually, All I did today was write. took the day off, I did! But yes, this is alive and apparently more or less well again, though I still can't promise the regular updates like my other fics. This is the side project I have putzing around on... (shrugs)  
WARNING: RUNAWAY PLOT very possible. You've all seen what happened in A New Life. It could very well happen again. In which case, this is going to just self destruct. I'm hoping it'll live, though.

And Yeah... Zack. He's a good guy, he really is.  
Oh, and two things: One, Sephiroth doesn't have a bloody clue what to think of Alexia. He's torn between throttling her and taking her under his wing, at this point.  
Two, Alexia doesn't know what to think of Sephiroth: She's torn between bitch-slapping him all to hell and doing her best to be a decent person to him.  
Again, I refuse to turn this into some self-insertion love story, or whatever. Meanwhile, I'm trying to decide if I dare meddle with history further than I already have, and try and stop Sephiroth from flipping out (and therefore never having the world end) and just letting him go and then perhaps finding Avalanche... That might get rather lame or cliche' though, which I'd rather avoid. Agreed?  
Okay. I'm done.  
MRE 


	4. Part Four

PART 4

Chapter 14 -Next Morning-

Alexia awoke the next morning to the sound of Sephiroth moving about his apartment, which was currently a disaster area. Four empty pizza boxes, two dozen empty cola cans, and several paper plates, napkins and plastic-ware lay scattered all over the coffee table and around it on the floor. She lifted her head from where it had been resting on Zack's thigh, and blushed, sitting up quickly. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who'd crashed on the couch last night.  
Zack had fallen asleep sitting upright on the couch, but now leaned precariously to one side. He was snoring lightly, and, Alexia noticed with no small amusement, drooling. She eased herself off the couch, and found a clean napkin, wiping his face off carefully. He didn't wake, and she looked up to see Sephiroth standing nearby, smirking at her attempt at saving Zack's grace. She made a face at the General, and wadded up the Zack-slobber soaked napkin and lobbed it at Sephiroth. He dodged it with so little as a tilt of his head, and wandered off again. Alexia shrugged it off, and went into the bathroom to clean herself up.  
When she came out, Alexia found Sephiroth poised over Zack with a pitcher of ice water, apparently preparing to dump it over his friend's head. The silver-haired man froze and looked up at her in surprise, vivid green eyes wide in an unusual display of candid mischief and feigned innocence.  
"Do I have time for breakfast?" She asked him flatly, before he could go on with waking Zack up. Zack, having heard her voice, woke up with a yawn, and looked directly up at Sephiroth, still standing with the pitcher of half-frozen water, ice cubes clunking lightly against its sides, and seemed completely nonplussed, rising with a grunt and staggering off towards the bathroom. Sephiroth looked childishly disappointed, lowering the pitcher and setting it on the coffee table. He glanced back over his shoulder at a clock he could see from there, in his kitchen, and shrugged.  
"You have an hour." He said, voice flat as always. Alexia blinked.  
"I'm up that early?" She asked to no one in particular. Sephiroth opened his mouth to answer, but Zack burst back out of the bathroom, the door slamming against the wall, bouncing, and hitting him again. Zack grunted a little at being hit by the hardwood door, but mostly ignored it, throwing his hands out into the air.  
"GOOOOOD MORNING MIDGAR!" He bellowed cheerfully. Sephiroth and Alexia shared a groan.  
"How can you be so /happy!" Alexia demanded, staring wide-eyed up at the SOLDIER First. Zack grinned crookedly.  
"Somebody's gotta smile around here!" Alexia smiled at that, and Zack's face lit up even more. "Heey! That's pretty good! We could be a team, Sis!" Alexia gave a weak laugh, shaking her head. "I don't think I'm ready for /that/ challenge, yet…" She admitted. Zack laughed heartily "Don't blame ya there… Gawd, puttin' up with Seph had got to be hard enough…!" Zack mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Sephiroth rolled his eyes.  
"Actually…yeah." Alexia ventured. "One minute, he's the Ice God from hell, and the next he's all Mr. Nice guy." She looked over at Sephiroth. "I don't know what to think!" Zack looked over his shoulder at Sephiroth, who was standing, stunned, eyes wide.  
"Yeah…" Zack went over to throw an arm around Sephiroth's shoulder, and the slightly taller man winced. "That's just how Seph here is. Dun let him get to ya-" Sephiroth shot Zack a glare which was completely ignored "-He's a good guy. He just doesn't want anyone to think that." Sephiroth blinked again, startled, and Zack dropped his arm, moving away and toward the door. "Come on, guys. Lets get some grub before all the cadets get up…" He said, slipping out and waving for the other two to follow.  
Alexia looked over at Sephiroth, trying to read his face, while shooting him an open look, but he just stared back until she shrugged and followed Zack out.  
-  
Chapter 15 -Unwanted-

Sephiroth was still standing where he stood, watching the other two leave, jaw slack. Damn Zack for being so damned cheerful…and smart. Or telepathic, Sephiroth didn't know. He snorted, making a mental note to kill Zack later. Or take him out for a drink. Sephiroth hadn't decided yet. Damn. He was confused as hell, now. Shaking his head, he walked out of his apartment following the dark haired commander. He'd sort it all out later.

Alexia was still stunned by Zack's outburst and reassurances that Sephiroth was, as he said it, 'a good guy'. She didn't really believe that, but she hoped that he was right. Well…Zack would know, wouldn't he…?  
"…Zack…?" "I wasn't pulling your chain, kiddo." Zack said casually, throwing a grin over his shoulder at the girl. Alexia blinked, face blanching.  
"What are you, telepathic!" She squeaked.  
"I was about to ask the same thing." Sephiroth said suddenly, somehow appearing right behind Alexia, startling her. She swung around in mid step, wings flared out in an expressive display of surprise.  
"The hell did YOU get here!" She barked with a yelp. Sephiroth only smirked.

Zack, suddenly forgotten, only smiled and quickened his pace. Behind him, Sephiroth and Alexia were sharing potent glares.

Sephiroth had just opened his mouth to spit out some quick, venom-dripping retort at Alexia when his PHS rang. He jumped. Someone had turned on the vibration on the little phone. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. That spiky-headed someone had also changed the ring tone to some obnoxious, pansy-assed little jingle that ground against Sephiroth's nerves like crushed glass. One silver eyebrow twitched as Alexia began to snigger and Zack turned to watch for Sephiroth's reaction. He got one. Sephiroth shot the younger man a malicious glare before straightening up and, holding up a hand for silence, finally answered the phone.  
"What?" Alexia opened her mouth to protest the rudeness of Sephiroth's method of answering the phone, but Zack was suddenly at her side, large hand clamped firmly over her mouth. She gasped, but took the hint, nodding, and he moved his hand, eyes fixed on Sephiroth.  
"What about it?" Sephiroth said, voice tense. Fierce green eyes flashed to meet Zack's for a moment, and the younger SOLDIER stepped away, taking Alexia with him.  
"I don't know." Sephiroth answered again, apparently being interrogated at the other end of the line.

Professor Hojo huffed as Sephiroth finally answered his call. The boy could be so irritating sometimes.  
"Is my latest project still in your midsts?" He asked, playing with an empty syringe as he spoke. Sephiroth grunted a vague answer.  
"What about it?" "What has it been eating, General?" "I don't know." Sephiroth answered, voice dark. Hojo's eyes narrowed as he prepared to chastise the young man.

Alexia listened, breath bated, as Sephiroth spoke in short, three-word sentences into the phone. He was tense, even for Sephiroth, and his eyes were sharp and cold like stone. Zack's hand was warm on her shoulder, and she folded her wings instinctively. Living leather brushed Zack's wrist and his hand snapped away, the touch startling him. Alexia spared a glance in his direction before looking back at Sephiroth.

"I don't know. That's not my problem. What do kids her age eat? All I was ever fed were carefully-designed meals designed for growth, not pleasure." Sephiroth ground out through bared teeth. "Has it eaten today?" Hojo went on.  
Sephiroth glanced at Alexia for a moment, and she froze, crimson eyes going wide.  
"Not that I know of." He answered. 

Everyone could sense the smirk, even over the phone, as Hojo smiled. "Good, change of plans, I want it in here first thing this morning. Don't give it anything to eat or drink, got it?" Sephiroth frowned.  
"What time?" "Is it awake yet?" Hojo pressed.  
"No." "In a few hours then. No need for training this morning." Hojo finished. All he got was a half-word grunt from Sephiroth before the General snapped the phone off, pocketing it again.  
-  
Chapter 16 -Not A Good Morning-

Sephiroth turned to face Alexia, who had backed up against Zack as if she might hide inside of him, eyes wide and worried. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know what that conversation had been about, even if she had only heard half of it.  
Sephiroth mentally cringed as he caught the wave of fear pass through the girl's eyes. He didn't blame her, knew what that fear was like.  
"Hojo wants you in his lab in a couple of hours." Sephiroth said, voice empty. "You're not to eat or drink anything before hand." Alexia's eyes widened, watering suddenly. Sephiroth glanced around the empty hall and spared the faintest of grimaces.  
"No… He can't know-" Sephiroth cut her off, striding foreword in two steps and grabbing her arm, steering her back towards his apartment. "Not out here." Sephiroth said curtly. Alexia winced at the bruising grip on her upper arm, but didn't say anything, jogging to keep up with the considerably taller man's stride. Zack fell into step silently behind them, his sparkle from earlier that morning gone.

By the time they'd reached Sephiroth's apartment again, tears were streaming steadily down Alexia's face as she cried silently, terrified. As soon as the door shut firmly behind them, she let the first gasping sob escape her.  
"Don't make me go back!" She twisted from Sephiroth's grip and was making to lock herself in his bathroom when Zack caught her in mid-stride, lifting her clean off the floor.  
"Please don't. It'll only be worse that way. Believe me." He said softly, waiting until the girl had stopped struggling before he set her down gently on the couch. "Hojo has made it a sick hobby of his to torture anyone who resists his orders…" "He's torturing me anyway!" Alexia cried. Zack sighed, searching for words.  
"So, if you think its bad now, why risk making it worse?" Sephiroth reasoned. Alexia went quiet, wings twitching in agitation, half unfolded from her body. In the silence, Zack moved, placing both hands on either of her wings and pushing them back toward her body in a sort of embrace. Alexia gasped, jumping back, wings spread as fresh fear went through her.  
"He doesn't know! He can't!" Wild red eyes darted around the room as she folded her wings tightly against her back, almost willing them to go back into her body. Her eyes flashed to the two men watching her in concern. "Rip them off, anything! He can't see them!" She screeched, voice cracking with her fear. She was slowly backing herself towards a wall, mindless terror setting in.  
"Alex…" Sephiroth warned, stepping toward her.  
"PLEASE!" "Alexia… don't-" "/SEPHIROTH!" Alexia crouched, moving as if she might either attack him or fly right over his head if he got too close. Sephiroth grit his teeth, ready for anything.  
"Stop." "It'll heal, just DO IT!" She finished with a yell. Sephiroth snarled, hand snapping out lightning-quick, grabbing both of her wrists and yanking her foreword. He held the girls arms over her head, nearly lifting her clean off the floor, and let his own livid green eyes bore down into hers.  
"Stop this." He said quietly. "I understand your fear." He glanced at Zack. The younger man was better at this than he was, tenfold, but Zack wasn't moving to help him, this time. The dark haired SOLDIER was unusually silent, face stern. "We both do. There's nothing you can do. Anything you do to fight it will only make it worse. Live through today. That's all you can do, got it?" Sephiroth's voice had dropped to something almost gentle, and Alexia watched him, wide eyed and startled. He lowered her arms, letting go of her. She stood still before him, head hung, shoulders shaking slightly. "I'm scared…" She breathed after a moment.  
"No shit." Sephiroth commented. "Rest up for a while and then I'll take you down there myself. With any luck, he'll go easier on you if there's witnesses…" Sephiroth finished, straightening up and giving Alexia a gentle shove toward the couch.  
"Seph…" Sephiroth looked up to see Zack still hovering, eyes dark and worried. Sephiroth sighed.  
"Can you stay for a while?" He said softly, feeling oddly drained. "You don't have to follow us to Hojo's lab, but you're better with…this type of thing… than I am…" Zack nodded, moving to seat himself next to Alexia on the couch so that she could lean on him. Blue eyes remained distant and stony as Alexia slowly cried herself to sleep over the next half hour. The room finally silent, Sephiroth let out a long breath, rubbing his eyes in a signal of stress. Zack couldn't say he blamed the older man.  
-  
Chapter 17 -Feels Like Doom-

"Hey, wake up, Kiddo." Alexia blinked blearily. Her eyes were sore and wouldn't open or focus quite right. /  
Kiddo…? Mom used to call me that…That wasn't Mom, though. It was a male voice. Dad…?Could she really be home? A warm hand on her shoulder shook her again, and Alexia was pulled further around into the land of the waking. She blinked up at sad blue eyes shrouded in black spikes and her world came crashing back with a jolt. She choked. Not mom, or dad. Not home. She hiccupped and almost began to cry again.  
"Heeeey… Don't cry. You'll be fine…" Zack said softly, giving the girl a gentle, playful shake.  
"Thought I was home…" Alexia murmured, rubbing her eyes. Zack's face softened.  
"I'm sorry… Maybe some day we'll get you home…okay? Don't loose hope." Alexia snorted.  
"Pretty tall request, you know…" She muttered bitterly. Zack sighed sadly.  
"I know." "Alexia." Both looked up to Sephiroth who stood over the couch, arms folded. "Come on. We gave you every minute we could for you to sleep. We have to go now." He tried to soften his voice, but couldn't loose that authoritarian edge. Alexia bit her lip, sitting up fully, and glanced at Zack.  
The dark-haired soldier leaned in close to the girl.  
"Hey, he's trying to be nice…." He whispered. Alexia nodded, understanding, and sat back.  
"Okay." She rose, took a step, and paused, before lunging back and giving Zack a fierce, though brief, hug. She gave him a brave smile and stepped away.  
Both men's jaws dropped.  
"What was that for?" Zack questioned, stunned. Alexia turned to him, smiling sadly.  
"I haven't had a hug in forever. You know, a lack of physical contact from others will actually cause brain damage… You're the first person I've met here who didn't prickle." Zack blinked. "Thanks." Alexia added, before moving to where Sephiroth now stood near the door. Zack blinked again, then grinned toothily, scratching his head. "My pleasure! That's what I'm here for. Makin' people feel good!" Alexia waved after him as she followed Sephiroth out of the apartment yet again. She followed the tall man in silence, walking in his shadow, and briefly wondering, if she turned and ran now, would he be able to catch her. His legs seemed to be almost as long as she was, though, and she figured that he'd have her in two steps. "Be brave." Sephiroth said suddenly, without turning. Alexia picked up her pace until she could see his face, sharply in profile from a foot above her. His features were, if possible, harder than usual, and it occurred to Alexia that perhaps he was as upset about returning to Hojo's lab as she was.  
"You've had to grow up with this, haven't you?" She asked, daring herself to go out on a limb. Cold green eyes shifted down to her, and Sephiroth visibly stiffened.  
"Yes." "I'm sorry. Nobody deserves that." "I wouldn't say that." Sephiroth argued darkly. Alexia blinked, falling silent. There was a finality in his tone of voice that warned her not to trod any further down that avenue. They traveled through the compound in silence, Sephiroth carefully schooling his pace so that the would-be soldier behind him could keep up. It was a fairly long walk past barracks offices, and out into the gray day before finally entering a separate, quieter building. Alexia closed her eyes against the sight of the ShinRa Tower not too far off, looming over the military compound as they crossed open space.

Hojo's Lab appeared to be little more than a hole in the wall at the back of the last building. Entering through the first of double, reinforced doors, however, Alexia quickly realized that the building was far larger than it had looked. Sephiroth led her through several separate labs and offices, into a final, back room filled with both eerily glowing computer equipment, and darkness broken by the occasional spotlight. She hung back behind the General, forcing back her fear, which settled like a brick somewhere at the base of her throat. She wanted to cry, kick, scream, run the hell away, but she held her ground, wings folded against her tightly, fingers curled into fists, jaw locked.  
So did Sephiroth, for that manner. She could see the muscles at the back of his neck and jaw taught as bridge cables, his face carefully schooled into emptiness. She felt a certain amount of guilt in dragging him back here when he didn't need to be.  
"My my my, a personal delivery, eh?" Hojo sneered, stepping out from a side room, rubbing his hands together.  
"She is not to be trusted alone." Sephiroth ground out. A jolt of anger shot through Alexia for a moment, but she then began to wonder if it was an act. Sephiroth was impossible to read. Hojo burst into a low chuckle.  
"Haha. Got what was coming for you then." Sephiroth grunted softly in response to Hojo's remark. "Well, bring it here, then." Alexia mentally frowned at his refusal to at least call her by a proper pronoun if nothing else. She had been reduced to an 'it.' Sephiroth grabbed her roughly from behind him and shoved her foreword. She yelped, staggering out into the center of the lab, regaining her balance only feet from Hojo. She shot a glare back at Sephiroth who simply stared back emptily. Hojo chuckled again. "Behave yourself now. I'd hate to see you get yourself killed before I'm finished with you." Alexia spun back around to face Hojo, eyes wide with fear. "Now come here." That, of course, was the last thing Alexia wanted to do. Hojo was standing near a metal table, holding an incredibly large syringe up in his hand, smiling.  
OoOoOoOoO AN: Yeah, I'm back to this. For those of you that are regular readers of mine, you might realize that this means I'm experiencing total writer's block. Yeah, I know I'm neglecting Lesson Learned... I've been thinking on it, I really have, but I just CAN'T seem to find the inspiration to keep going on it right now. I'm trying, I promise. It won't be abandoned and it wont' be forgotten. Hopefully this rather shameless self-indulgence will help me get my mojo back, as it were.

...Heh, excuse the cliffhanger, but it really shouldn't be that important, lol.

Mood Swings abound!

What is this? Sephiroth lieing through his teeth left and right to Hojo? REJOICE! ; )  
...I'm done

Tootles,  
MRE 


End file.
